Explore Act in Congress

This is good news.  Actual bill is here:  https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6492/text#toc-HE27BCE6CB54648E3B66B940255D376B9

Sounds like they’re trying to bring the city into the wilderness.

It is a complicated issue, indeed. Do we want more people to visit the wilderness, learn to love it, and vote to protect it? Yes. But increasing the number of people in the wilderness (and their favorite activities) will also certainly degrade the wilderness experience. Not an easy water to navigate.

At least they are talking about wilderness…

Not sure this will really be good for actual wilderness, in fact it seems like the opposite of what one would want. Target shooting, internet access, increased opportunities for commercial use? Really?

I really don’t care about National Parks because they are already pretty much ruined. So if you want to make the dashboard-experience more user-friendly … fine. But the last thing we need is to streamline commercial use of actual wilderness areas. Even outfitters, which should be the most acceptable commercial users of wilderness, are constantly guilty of egregious behavior, and ranchers totally abuse whatever access they are given. This seems to be mainly a gift for the outdoor recreation industry.

I do believe in opening up the wilderness for those who are unable. We shouldn’t be an exclusive club. Anything having to do with Utah and wilderness is suspect.
https://www.kuer.org/business-economy/2023-01-09/after-a-5-year-hiatus-outdoor-retailer-returns-to-salt-lake-city#

https://www.fs.usda.gov/emc/applit/includes/9thCircuitCottonwoodDecision.pdf

https://www.boone-crockett.org/boone-and-crockett-club-thanks-house-natural-resources-chairman-bruce-westerman-wildlife-funding

Julie A. MacDonald (born July 14, 1955) is a former deputy assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks at the United States Department of the Interior. MacDonald was appointed by former Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton on 3 May 2004[1] and resigned on 1 May 2007[2] after an internal investigation found that she had “injected herself personally and profoundly in a number of Endangered Species Act decisions”, a violation of the Code of Federal Regulations under Use of Nonpublic Information and Basic Obligation of Public Service, Appearance of Preferential Treatment.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_A._MacDonald